Seven Ways to Kiss a Man
by Abarero
Summary: A ninja. A mage. A roadtrip that would take them across the worlds. And perhaps destiny had more in store for them than what it first seemed. [Kurogane x Fai]
1. A Goodnight Kiss

Author's Note: This will actually be one in a series of 15 stories that link together; 7 from Fai's angle, 7 from Kurogane's angle and one unified one. It will be written in chronological order, as if you were seeing scenes in the manga that just- weren't shown. Enjoy!

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Seven Ways to Kiss a Ninja: #1- A Goodnight Kiss

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He had opted to sleep against the wall; something that both Fai and Sorata originally had shrugged off at Kurogane being Kurogane. But once the lights had dimmed and Sorata had taken his leave, Fai realized he simply couldn't let this be.

Creeping closer to the sleeping form, a sly smile slipped onto the slender man's face. Kurogane wasn't really asleep yet- he noted- making the situation all the more interesting.

_"Closer…closer…just a bit more and…"_

"Argh! What the hell do you think you're doing!" The ninja snapped, crimson eyes focusing a glare on the culprit.

Fai tilted his head to the side and smiled innocently, "Tucking Kuro-tan in, of course!"

Yanking the offending blanket off of him, Kurogane frowned, "Do I look like a child to you!"

"Well _someone_ is sure _acting_ like a child."

Red eyes flared, practically daring the mage to say it, "Who? You?"

"No. You, silly," Fai punctuated, tapping the scowling ninja on the nose, "Mr. Grumpypants."

"Mr. Grump- Stop calling me such idiotic names!" He yelled, quickly getting to his feet and wishing sorely for something- _anything_- he could use to knock some silence into the wizard with.

"Hyuu! Kuro-mu's really mad now!" The blonde exclaimed, dodging the swipe made in his direction.

"Shut the hell up and go to sleep already!" Kurogane growled.

"Awww, Kuro-pi's no fun!"

"And stop with the damned names!"

He lunged after the blonde man, deciding in lieu of hitting him he could just strangle him to death. Cursing and yelling- Kurogane chased Fai around the room. Meanwhile, the mage chuckled to himself and dodged.

"You sure get worked up late at night, Kuro-pon"

"Shut.Up."

"Is this some sort of nighttime ritual in your world? Chasing your roommate around until you both sleep out of pure exhaustion?"

"No! In my world people know when to _keep their damn mouths shut_!"

"Oh? So you've never told anyone off? Even the one who sent you away?"

Kurogane halted at that, surprised by the wizard's perception.

"That's…that's different!"

Fai wagged his finger, "Tsk, tsk. Naughty children should go to bed."

Catching the ninja off guard (and using the fact that Kurogane had clearly misjudged his strength to his advantage) Fai managed to tackle the dark-haired man down onto one of the futons.

"Why I ought to…" Kurogane began to protest, but Fai silenced him.

"Shh, we have visitors."

The mage glanced over his shoulder as the door pushed open to reveal a very tired looking Sorata and Mokona.

"Mokona's sleepy-sleepy!"

"Oh- um," Sorata fidgeted a moment before clearing his throat, "Fai-kun, could I speak with you?"

"Well, I suppose."

Standing, the blonde man crossed the room and slipped out the door.

"Yes, Sorata-san?"

The man smiled nervously, "I didn't mean to disturb you two but Mokona was getting concerned due to all the yelling. Had I known you and Kurogane-san were in _that_ kind of relationship I wouldn't have…"

"_That_ kind?" Fai asked, belatedly beginning to process that their host had seen him in what could be conceived a compromising situation with the gruff ninja.

Sorata grinned, throwing his arm around the wizard's shoulders, "Look, I understand completely. Some nights they can be so…grumpy. (But don't tell my honey I said that about her). Now in my experience, the best method to please a grumpy lover is…" He leaned in and whispered his advice.

The mage listened at first, but finally broke down into a fit of giggles.

"What's so funny? Tell Mokona!" The creature chirped.

Barely suppressing his laughter- at not only the misunderstanding but at Sorata's advice- Fai composed himself to reply.

"Thank you, Sorata-san. We'll…err, try to be quieter as to not disturb the others."

"That's my good man," Their host replied, turning back towards his room. Partially down the hallway, he paused, "Oh, and if you need _that_, just check the kitchen."

Fai nodded, chuckling to himself as he picked up Mokona.

"What's in the kitchen, Fai-Fai?"

Pushing the door to his room open, so Kurogane could overhear, the wizard smirked.

"Now don't tell Syaoran-kun about what you saw tonight, okay?"

"Don't tell the brat what?" Kurogane snapped from where he was sulking in the corner.

"Okay! Mokona won't say a thing about Fai in Kurogane's bed!"

Ignoring the crash that was surely Kurogane spluttering about the incorrect assumptions one could make about that statement, Fai smiled and kissed Mokona on the forehead.

"Thanks. Goodnight Mokona."

The white creature bounced up and kissed Fai on the cheek.

"Night, night, Fai-san! Give Kurogane a goodnight kiss too!"

"What!" The ninja bolted up, eyes fixated into a deadly glare at the two in the doorway.

But Fai continued to play innocent, "I might have to take Sorata-san's advice and get a certain grumpy Kuro-myu some warm milk first."

"Oooh, Kuro-chan likes warm milk to make him happy?" Mokona chirped.

"I do _NOT_," Kurogane seethed.

"Grumpy Kuro-rin needs a bedtime kiss!" The white creature trilled, bouncing from Fai's hand across the room to plant a kiss on Kurogane's cheek.

The black-haired man looked appalled, "Damned white thing! Get the hell away from me, that's disgusting!"

"Fai's turn! Fai's turn!" Mokona chanted, bounding away to safety.

"Now Mokona, go on back to Syaoran-kun. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow," The mage noted sagely.

Mokona's ears drooped, but he complied, "Okay, goodnight!"

Shaking his head as the white creature bounced down the hallway, Fai turned back to the black creature seated in his room. Kurogane was warily sitting in the corner, his eyes pointedly watching every single move Fai made. It was rather humorous- or at least Fai thought so- to see him feeling so threatened by Mokona's innocent suggestion.

Yawning, the mage shuffled over to his futon, "Let's get some sleep as well."

"Hmph. About time you decided to shut up," Kurogane muttered; finally dropping his guard a little and closing his eyes. He was obviously just as tired as the rest of the group, despite his penchant for trying not to show it.

Fai sat down on the edge of his futon- then, with a cat-who-ate-the canary grin- he leaned over towards Kurogane's position in the corner of the room.

Carefully draping the blanket around him, and realizing that the man didn't offer a protest this time- Fai's face broke into a mischievous smirk. Readying himself for quick retreat, the wizard leaned in and pecked a chaste kiss on Kurogane's cheek.

"Night, Kuro-tan!" His sing-song sentiment was practically drowned out as Kurogane's voice boomed over it.

"Get the hell away from me, you damned lunatic! Don't kiss me!"  
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A few rooms down the hall, Sorata sighed.

"Honey, are you sure those two have the souls of a destined pair?"

Arashi shifted a bit, turning towards him to reply, "My miko senses have never been wrong before."

"But they fight so much! They should be more loving and passionate- like me and…" He slid his arm around her, yelping out the last word as she slapped his hand away, "…y-you."

"Go to sleep. It's been a long day."

"But Honey" Sorata whined.

"Silence."

Pouting, he rolled over. _"Hmph. Maybe she's not too off on those two afterall… grumpy woman."_


	2. An Unintentional Kiss

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Seven Ways to Kiss a Mage: #1- An Unintentional Kiss

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"Hyuu! Kuro-myu got a kiss!" Fai cheered as the two left the lair of Kiishimu.

The dark-haired ninja shrugged, "It wasn't a kiss."

"Ah? Then what do you call that, Kuro-run?"

"Her lips brushed my cheek. That's all."

"Ah!" Fai hit his hand into his palm," So that's what the people in your world call kissing."

Kurogane blinked, then frowned, "No! Kissing is when there's emotion behind it, you idiot! Sheesh. Don't act like my world's as crazy as the one you came from!"

"Shhh, Kuro-tan! The guards will hear us."

"Good! Let the bastards come! It'll give me something to do rather than waste my time talking to you."

Fai pouted, "Aww, Kuro-mun's mean!"

"Shut up!"

"Meanie!"

Kurogane perked up, sensing something nearby.

"I said, shut up! Someone's coming," He muttered, quickly grabbing Fai and pressing him against the wall.

The two waited in silence for the sound's echoes to ebb, but Fai found his current position was making the 'silence' part rather hard. Quirking his lips up into a smirk, he waited for Kurogane to notice.

Glancing around to make sure that his instincts were right and that the threat was gone, Kurogane let his gaze wander towards his companion. It took him about a millisecond to register the predicament and jerk away as if he'd touched a hot stove.

Fai just smiled, and that irritated him all the more. That meant the mage was probably about to say something that he would deem annoying, irritating, and anger-inducing.

"Aww, Kuro-pon gave me a kiss on the cheek!"

Kurogane cursed inwardly for having predicted the outcome. Opening his mouth to land-blast some sense into the blonde-haired fop; the ninja found that before much more than a muffled 'what in the hell' got out of his lips, a certain mage had reached out to cover his mouth with his hand.

"Ah ah ah. Quiet remember? Don't want all the guards in the building to come running just because you're having a temper tantrum, Kuro-pi."

Kurogane muttered, thinking that perhaps fighting off all the guards in the building might- _just might_- quell his current rage. Taking a deep breath, and visibly seething, he started to reach for Fai's arm. If the damned mage wouldn't remove his hand, then he would remove said hand himself.

But Fai shook his head, "Are we going to be nice and quiet?"

Kurogane glared.

"I'll take that deadly glare as a 'yes,'" The mage replied cheerfully, slowly removing his hand from where it blocked Kurogane's mouth.

"Listen you," He ranted _quietly_, "That was _not_ a damned kiss! It didn't mean anything so it didn't happen!"

"So your lips just brushed my cheek?" Fai queried.

Crossing his arms as if to make a point, Kurogane muttered back, "Yes. So don't start thinking up weird stupid things or assuming I'm your friend or anything dumb like that!"

Nodding, Fai decided to play along, "All right, if you say so Kuro-rin."

"I do, so there!"

He'd started to stomp forward, venting his excess frustration into the poor floor. But his forward-movement halted as he felt a gentle touch on his arm.

"Kuro-mun?"

"What?" Kurogane managed through gritted teeth.

"Is the real reason you're mad because I didn't take your kiss seriously?"

Red eyes flared. He knew Fai was just doing this to push his buttons. He knew that it was the full intent of the mage to get him to go off in a tirade about this. And he knew the second he opened his mouth that he was playing right into the crafty wizard's hands. But at that moment, he didn't give a damn.

"What in all the hells gave you that dumbass idea--mph!"

Once again, he found his mouth covered and his rant muffled.

"You know, for a ninja you're terribly bad at this stealthy thing," Fai remarked, driving said ninja only madder.

Snatching Fai's wrist and forcibly yanking the hand away, Kurogane stared at the other man.

"Don't talk."

"So the guards won't hear us?"

"No! So I won't have to listen to your inane babble! Nothing happened, it's all a figment of your deluded imagination and we are now going to keep moving and forget this whole retarded conversation ever occurred. Got that?"

Fai nodded, but his smirk alluded that he wasn't about to follow those rules. Kurogane huffed and stormed off ahead, weakly kicking a wall as he went.

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They'd gone up at least one floor, Kurogane stomping up ahead; Fai swore that the ninja was bound to alert every guard in the building at this rate. Oddly though, after passing a room where the Ryanban's son lay beaten- a feat that they attributed to Syaoran- there didn't seem to be a single person around.

"Oi," Kurogane finally spoke up. Fai tilted his head, wondering if he'd noticed the absence of people as well.

"Yes?"

"Come here."

He waited for the mage to catch up to where he stood. Then, without a word, he reached and pulled Fai's arm up around his shoulders.

"Stop acting like nothing's wrong," He muttered, half-supporting Fai's weight. He'd grown tired of watching the wizard try and hide the way Kiishimu's attacks had injured him.

Fai's eyes widened, surprised that Kurogane could see through him like that.

"What?" Kurogane snapped, diverting his eyes from the blonde-haired man. He wasn't sure how to act when there wasn't an annoying quip back; it unnerved him somehow when Fai was quiet like this.

Finally, he noticed a soft smile creep onto the other man's face, "It's nothing."

"Hmph," He muttered, starting to walk forward, "Well, I'm only doing this because you were slowing me down. There's no way we're going to make it to the top of this damned place if you keep lagging behind like this. And if we don't get there, we can't get the blasted feather and I can't get home!"

Nodding, Fai decided to let the man rant; after all, his excuses were terribly transparent. And the mage wasn't the only one slowed by the injures they got while fighting Kiishimu. But there was no way Kurogane was going to admit i that /i , let alone admit that he was willing to help Fai. It was easier for both of them to let it fall under the radar as the excuse given.

"_When there's emotion behind it..._" Fai mused to himself and he silently wondered. Perhaps the group's "big tough ninja" wasn't quite as tough as he seemed...

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